The Energy Wars
by Brandon1
Summary: Starts with a sense of Rock's every day life, before leading into a visit of Duo and multiple problems. Incomplete.
1. So You Think You're Special

Disclaimer:  
  
You'll notice I don't directly describe Bass and Rock, or any other characters. You can find descriptions for them at www.ibis-research.com/mm, or almost any other Mega Man site.   
  
I also take a few liberties, but get used to it.  
  
Also, Mega Man is a property of Capcom.  
  
- - -  
Chapter One:  
You think you're special.  
  
  
  
Maybe it'll let up by the time I have to head back to the lab, Rock hoped, staring out the blue tinted window of the building called the Mega Mall. Outside, it was pouring rain in sheets, and the rumbling thunder from black clouds foretold lightning. Walking in the rain was not fun. It tended to attract unwanted attention, such as why his hair stayed dry, and the odd metallic pinging sound the raindrops made when it hit him.  
  
Human's tended to get paranoid when they realized that the seemingly 13-year-old kid was actually a robot. Most of them wouldn't even consider thinking of him as a Bioroid, a living machine.  
  
Oh well. I wonder what else I can do today. I haven't hit the arcade in a while, he thought, as he hopped an elevator to reach the top area of the Mega Mall, a huge shopping facility, with an arcade and various food courts. Not that Rock needed to go to the latter.  
  
Hitting the button for the correct floor, the elevator began to rise. Then, a loud thunderclap reverberated thought the mall, and the elevator stopped, the lights going out.  
  
What in the world? Did lightning hit this place? I would have felt it. . .  
  
Rock heard a loud "snik" sound echo from above him, and the elevator began to fall. Rock, used to such things, jumped up, ripping through the top of the elevator, and grabbed hold of the lip of the hole he had created. He pulled himself up no problem, and then jumped to the nearest elevator door, slamming his fist into it hard enough to bust it open.  
  
Rock glanced around, finding himself in a shopping store, with various customers and employees staring at him. One little kid, standing next to the fallen door, began to cry.  
  
Uh oh.  
  
Rock began to say something comforting, but the third second after he had exited the shaft, the elevator smashed into the bottom of the shaft.  
  
Rock jumped forward, covering the crying child as glass, metal, and a few other forms of shrapnel sprayed out of the doorway. Rock felt a dull pain as a few shards embedded themselves into his skin. Or, rather, got stuck in the synthaflesh that covered his metal frame.  
  
After two seconds, he stood up, careful not to hurt the child. A boy, he now recognized. Suddenly, he realized something. The lights were all on here. Then, what was up with the elevator? Or, down, as the case was now.  
  
"Mega Man! Today we finish this!" a teenage voice, much in contrast to the extremely young voice of Rock, called from the elevator shaft.  
  
For the second time in under a minute, the words of "Oh no" flashed through Rock's mind. A fight, here. Innocents about, likely to get hurt. Rock heard the grappling sound that followed the voice, and he ran to the shaft, sending a fist upwards, hoping to time it right.  
  
"Ugh. . ." the teenage voice mumbled as Rock felt his fist hit something cold, hard, and moving at great speeds. Well, not any more. Currently, the source of the voice was balancing on the fist size dent in its - his - midsection. Rock wasn't hurt in the slightest, except for his fist hurting from going into that metal. And that was just a trivial wound.  
  
"Bass. If you want to attack me, do it someplace where . . . people . . . won't . . . get . . . hurt." And he pulled his fist back, and Bass's form fell the remaining two stories to land among the rubble of the elevator.  
  
Rock stared up the elevator shaft, trying to see if there was enough cable for him to grapple down and confront Bass.  
  
There wasn't. With a sigh, Rock jumped and fell the two stories, landing with a thud on something solid.  
  
"Get. . . off . . . of . . . me." Oh, he had landed on Bass.  
  
Rock jumped off of the ebony armored robot, flipping forward and pushing off the ground with one hand, spinning to face his opponent. "Bass!" He put one fist forward, getting ready to fight. "You are great at ruining my life, you've proved that well enough by now. But if you ever, ever, hurt a person, I will see you broken to pieces and melted."  
  
Bass stood up, glowing a green color. He idly reached up and ripped out a piece of glass from his face, right under the purple slashes. The was something vaguely horrifying about such a wicked cut with no blood coming out of it.  
  
"You don't have what it takes to stop me," he said with an arrogant tone, and put one arm forward as well. Is seemed to change - the gauntlet part coming forward and opening up, his hand disappearing, all in the space of a nanosecond. A green blast of plasma came out of the opening, and then the gauntlet returned to normal.  
  
Rock jumped over the blast with practiced ease, but his winced as it melt the metal behind him. Can't get in it. If I'm held in place, he'll just blast me to scrap. He spun around, kicking off of the wall, then spun again in mid air, so that he was facing and flying towards Bass. He brought his fist down, just as he connected, denting the armor again.  
  
"Nice try." Bass brought up one arm, and drove it deep into Rock's midsection.  
  
"Gah!" Rock wasn't wearing his own armor, so, instead of it protecting him, his form was now knocked inward half a foot. Rock would feel the thing metal shell around his frame and "organs" break in a few places, cutting through skin, and more importantly, through a few wires. Pain echoed through his head, and he realized he'd have trouble pulling off a slide, because the wires that sent power to create a kinetic force to move him forward without moving were cut clean in two.  
  
It was almost like a parody of what happened before - Rock balancing on his dent, instead of Bass. But Rock kept the presence of mind to do something. He looked up, and raised a hand outward, to the side, almost pleadingly. He looked right into Bass's red eyes, those eye's clearly screaming "I WON!" in a way that his voice couldn't possibly replicate.  
  
Rock smiled, and, with that pleading hand, made a fist and drove it straight into Bass's mouth.  
  
Bass went flying, landing against a wall, and denting it, before getting back to his feet. It was testament to Rock's strength, as great of a curse as it always ended up being around humans. Rock, carried along for the ride, landed six feet to the side, also getting to his feet.  
  
"This isn't over!" Bass yelled, before jumping up into the air, reaching the second story - then jumping again in mid air, catching the cable.  
  
Rock stared up at him, and could see the faces of a few worried people, wondering what had happened to the boy who had jumped down the ruined shaft.  
  
With a frown, Rock jumped up to the second story - the first story didn't have a door, or if it had, the crashing of the elevator had caved it in - and busted through the sealed door.  
  
One of the mall security officers started after seeing a boy rip through the damaged door. Rock took the look of shock as something else.  
  
"Ah, sorry. Send the bill to Light Co." And he raced off to find Bass.  
  
Rock vaguely noticed another bolt of lightning hitting the parking lot as he ran to the next story.  
  
- - -  
Rock had found Bass on the roof of the mall, standing on top of an antenna, glaring down at the smaller robot.  
  
"So you showed."  
  
"Damn it, Bass, when wouldn't I have shown? You would have kept attacking me if you had thought I wasn't going to follow."  
  
Bass smirked. "Hmph, I guess so. I thought the fear that one of your precious humans," Bass said the word like it was a curse, and something so foul you had to get it out of your mouth before you vomited. "Would have been hurt by me if you hadn't come."  
  
Rock glared at the armored figure above him, and jumped up. He realized two things. One, he still hadn't gotten his armor on, so he was very vulnerable to Bass's attacks. Secondly, lightning had hit the roof of the mall.  
  
Bass jumped off the antenna as soon as Rock was within grappling distance. He aimed three quick punches, and a spinning kick at the smaller robot. Rock countered as well as he could, midair fighting not being his biggest strength. He took several hits, ones that were more effective than they should have been.  
  
He looked at his adversary's armor, noting that the shiny gold was now a dull brown. He has switched weapons.  
  
Bass used his double jump to uppercut his adversary in midair, sending Rock falling to the ground. The black haired defender bounced as he hit.  
  
And if that punch was any testament, then Bass was using Guts Man's weapon, or some copy of it.  
  
"Ha, done already?" Bass landed, and began walking towards Rock, the lining of his armor switching through every color of the spectrum, as he decided what weapon to use to obliterate Rock.  
  
"N. . . No." Rock's functions were low, he wasn't able to get a lot of energy to his extremities. He cursed himself for forgetting his armor in his rush to deal with Bass. His body was repairing itself, but it lacked the energy to do so.  
  
Rock slowly got to his feet, slouching. Armor, armor, where was his damn armor recall unit? On his belt. He reached down, grasping it. But, before he could hit the button that would give him his protective suit, and his Buster, Bass rushed him.  
  
Rock jumped over the black bot's head, only to be sent flying when Bass whirled about and sent a blast of electricity at him. The bolt knocked him back, clothes smoking, hair burned together at the ends, until he hit the antenna from before. He finally was able to hit the armor recall, a blue flash covering him.  
  
Gauntlets, helmet, books, and other protective gear covered him. Clothes vanished, shredded by the energy to matter conversion that gave Rock his armor. Light blue underclothes, extending to the wrist, ankles, and up to the neck, were finally seen, only for the legs beyond the knees to be covered by the boots, and arms from the middle part of the lower arm in gauntlets. He was primarily two colors. Dark blue and light blue.  
  
Once the light cleared, a split second later, Rock was on his feet, rushing Bass.  
  
Lightning crackled nearby, giving Rock his first good look at Bass that day.  
  
Standing head and shoulders taller than his adversary, black replaced dark blue in most of him. Grey replaced light blue. There were differences, the most notable being Bass's chest plate and helmet.  
  
Rock took a deep breath, and let it out. It was a simple way to cool his systems, having the lungs being near more of his vital parts, which seemed to be the first things to overheat when he was hurt.  
  
He panted a few more times, so that his systems were stable, and rushed Bass.  
  
The fight really began now, both of them were thinking. Bass could cut loose now that he was in the open, and Rock had his armor and weapons.  
  
First thing that happened was Bass switched weapons to something Rock couldn't catch. A custom, his mind answered, as Bass held out his Buster, the warped form of his gauntlet, and let loose with what felt like a focused amount of kinetic energy, sending Rock flying.  
  
Rock landed on his feet, and dashed forward. He wasn't near as fast as Bass, and he couldn't slide. These two factors led to Bass getting near him before Rock got near Bass, in a way.  
  
Bass rapid fired three shots, all of them catching Rock in the chest. The blue bomber was knocked back, but he made a jumping lunge to grab hold of Bass's arm, where the Buster was.  
  
Bass began to fling him over the shoulder, and succeeded. But Rock had dug his fingers in, so when Rock went flying, he scratched four long furrows into the weapon, causing it to "spark" as the energy it created began to get out of control.  
  
Bass shifted that Buster back into arm form, the hand appearing to slide out of the mess of energy that reformed into an arm, albeit one that was scratched up.  
  
Rock switched his right arm into a Buster by putting his middle two fingers into the middle of his palm, hand making a fist. The connection sent the matter to energy transfer off, and his arm glowed blue for a split second as the gauntlets parts came down, covering his hand, and forming into the weapon.  
  
Rock could fire the thing by clinching his fist, which remained whole and intact inside of the weapon. In fact, he did just that, raising it and firing it once into Bass's face, then holding his fist closed to let the weapon "charge", building energy for a more powerful strike.  
  
Rock jumped to the side, regained his footing and let loose the charged blast, knocking the ill-prepared Bass back a few steps.  
  
Bass paused to regain himself. Damn it, it shouldn't be this hard to deal with him . . . With a scream wrought of frustration, he slipped a hand to his belt, hitting the weapon change. He rushed forward, and Rock tried to grab hold of him. The smaller but stronger blue robot would beat him in a grappling contest, so Bass switched his working arm into a Buster, and let loose the weapon.  
  
His gold lining was green. Green fire poured out of the business end of the Buster, coating Rock in the evil looking flames, and melting the concrete underneath his feet.  
  
Rock jumped back, and fell to the ground, rolling out of Bass's range. The flames stayed on his body, giving him an eerie glowing look. It would take a minute while the flames dissolved. They were melting him, that was true. But his body, the bioroid body, the powers of the living machine, caused him to repair himself from any harm. This just hurt like hell  
  
Bass wasn't interested in the physics of his weapon. It kicked ass. That was good enough for him. He enjoyed the moment of conquest.  
  
A moment that was rapidly about to end. Rock got to his feet again, and rushed him. Bass took a step back, letting loose another blast of green flame.  
  
The ground melted. Rock's body caught on fire; he began to melt. Rock dived through it, warnings ringing in his helmet, a questioning sound as someone at the lab tried to contact him and found him busy, and Bass's scream of pain as Rock, green flames burning on him, pinned him to the ground.  
  
"DAMN YOU!" Bass couldn't get a hand free to punch him, and the flames began to eat away at his body.  
  
Warnings screamed across his senses. Pain. He could ignore it, he did ignore it.  
  
His body was low on energy. Both Bass's "Bassium" body and Rock's "Bioroid" body repaired themselves through a matter to energy transference system. They needed an excess of energy to fight, and Bass's excess energy had spent itself repairing the punches. His armor was fine. Both his and Rock's were strong enough to take it. It was the bodies underneath the armor that melted. So, Bass, armor fully intact, except for a dent, looked up at Rock.  
  
Why wasn't he dying? This inferno was enough . . . The flames died out. He looked back up at Rock, and cursed. Wild, angry blue eyes stared at him. Rocks body was fine, other than some pain. He had survived the inferno better, but not by much.  
  
They were at equal energy levels, they both realized. Bodies had worked overtime to heal.  
  
"Hmph." Bass grinned, switching his right arm to a Buster. The wounded one.  
  
He began to charge its power, and laugh. It would explode, the energy creating system overloading. It would take out the top floor of the mall, and Rock.  
  
Bass would be fine. The Buster couldn't harm the armor it came from, or Bass. He didn't know how it worked, but Wily had said something about "similar energy sources".  
  
His arm began to flash and glow green and purple, energy spirals exiting and entering.  
  
There was a red flash, a lessening of weight on Bass. And the spirals exploded, covering his vision. Everything went dark.  
  
Bass lost consciousness, found a minute of peace. It was all the time he could spend without anger. Those times when he couldn't think.  
  
- - -  
  
Blues stood over the rubble. Rock was gone - the older Bioroid had teleported his "little brother" away from the mess, back to the lab. He held his shield in one hand, protecting him from the violent explosion.  
  
It was Tritanium. No one knew where the metal had come from, but artifacts of it were constantly being found. It was impervious, unmeltable, unmoldable. Whatever you found, you couldn't change. Shields were the most common things.  
  
There was also a lesser metal, similar. It could reflect blasts, but eventually they'd break.  
  
Blues' shield absorbed the energies, like a sponge in a puddle.  
  
The red robot stood there as the blast died, scarf flapping, until the energy was gone enough for him to teleport away, leaving Bass standing, more than half dead.  
  
"Damn . . . It," Bass muttered, and did the same.  



	2. So alike, and so different

Author's Notes:  
  
This segment is a bit shorter, but I felt it was necessary to tell the story as in envisioned it.  
  
- - -  
Chapter 2:  
So alike, and so different.  
  
  
"What happened now?"  
  
Once the red light cleared from the lab, Dr. Light looked at his two creations, one of which was looking quite hurt, the other of which wore an eternal smirk below his visor.  
  
"Poor fool went shopping during the mid-day rush. A 300 pound woman crushed him for the last bag of chips." Although the words were completely joking, the tone was deadpan. The red bioroid recognized the problem, and helped Light put his brother on the repair table.  
  
Light bent down to Rock's belt, and hit the reverse on the armor recall, causing the blue bomber's armor to vanish in another flash of light, this one blue.  
  
With a sigh at the damage artificial skin, he took out tools. He began by cutting away the skin, and gently moving all damaged parts together. He connected wires, and held them together with a bit of industrial tape. He moved broken pieces of Rock's metal skeleton together, using a light glue that would dissolve in a few days to keep them together until Rock's body healed itself by converting his energy into matter.  
  
As he hooked up the energy feed, he asked Blues a question without looking at him what had really happened.  
  
"Bass showed up while Rock was having his off-day. Everything followed the normal pattern. I showed up in time to save him when one of Bass's Busters exploded."  
  
"Huh. So, was this a planned attack by Wily?"  
  
"It was Bass, by himself. I don't think Bass plans anything up until it happens."  
  
"That's probably true. Although he did do a number on Rock."  
  
The bioroid nodded at his creator. "Yeah. From what I could tell, Rock didn't have his   
armor on for most of it, and was even so suicidal as to catch himself on fire to drag Bass down. It   
worked, but . . ." Blues smirked as, the glowing green light of the energy being fed into Rock reflected off of his visor. "It wasn't actually the best idea since E-Tanks."  
  
"Erm, yes, well." Light was preoccupied by studying Rock's body to make sure the healing was working, giving Blues time to readjust his scarf.  
  
Blues began to turn and leave, his duty fulfilled, when a hand reached out to snag said scarf and tugged it, pulling him back.  
  
"Leaving without visiting, big brother? Rock will be so disappointed when he wakes up."  
  
"His loss." He yanked his scarf out of his sister's gripped, and turned to face Roll.  
  
"So. The whole family's here. Except for the estranged cousins, Hip and Hop."  
  
"Do you ever stop joking?" Roll cocked her head in a fairly human manner, grinning at her brother.  
  
"Not if I can help it," he returned with an arrogant air. Light chose this moment to look up.  
  
"Rock should be okay. He's healing normally, but it'll take a while before he's up to full strength. I hope he did enough damage to Bass to keep him down for a while, and that Wily is preoccupied with that enough to not send any Masters to cause mischief."  
  
Blues shrugged, smirk turning wistful. "Guess I'm automatically appointed 'Defender of the World', huh?"  
  
Light smiled, and began to head to the part of the lab where Rock's armor was kept when the blue bomber wasn't using it. The armor had taken a beating, and needed to be repaired as well.  
  
Roll smirked. "You betcha."  
  
Blues's martyrdom was in vein, actually.   
  
- - -  
  
"You failed. Again."  
  
"Damn it yes, I failed again! That damn scarf wearing Blues stepped in, and took the killing blow!"  
  
"Yes, yes. Always someone else's fault, isn't it? Proto Man's, Duo's, why, I bet you'll be blaming that housekeeper next!"  
  
If Wily could have seen Bass's face at that moment, he would have realized he was pushing Bass a bit too far. The halfway repaired bioroid's face was contracted in anger, fangs digging into artificial lips, shooting pain into his mind, which caused him to bite harder.  
  
One more insult, thought Bass, and I break his neck. He looked at Wily, standing over him, tinkering with tools, repairing the damage done by that accursed Rock. After he finishes repairing me, that is, Bass thought with a smirk.  
  
Several minutes passed. Bass could feel his broken parts being moved together, in a process nearly exactly identical to what Light had done to Rock.  
  
"All done. Suit up, and recharge"  
  
Bass got off the worktable, rubbing his uncovered shoulders. He was naked, although he, being a robot, had nothing to be ashamed of. Ebony hair fell to his chin, but none showed anywhere else, creating an oddly inhuman look. Damaged skin had been replaced with new skin, fresh out of the package. The new skin stood out whiter than even Bass's pale skin, as it lacked any exposure to the elements.   
  
Yes, the marvel of the mid 21st century. The artificial skin tanned.  
  
Bass picked up the black belt lying on the floor, and buckled it on, hitting the armor recall. His armor, also freshly repaired, appeared around him, clothing him, supporting him. It was the only thing that ever did support him, the only thing that aided him.  
  
He stretched his legs, feeling the power in them. He wanted to fight again. But, as he stretched, he felt something start to give. His loosely held together insides would come apart if he exerted himself too much.  
  
"Damn it," he muttered, leaving Wily's lab and heading towards the place where they stored the energy surplus. Bass needed the energy to repair his damaged systems, and he couldn't lay around with an energy feed, resting and repairing. He needed to absorb as much energy as possible, immediately fall into the restive state that bioroids considered sleep.  
  
Then, when he woke up in a few hours, he had to go back to his other duties. Bass was, disgustingly enough, a general in a much larger army. He had to help program, repair, and create new robots for further use. It was his rent, more or less. Acting as some lab aide.  
  
He reached the depot, grabbing an E-Tank and absorbing it with a sigh followed by a muttered curse as the sweet and sour sensation of energy flowing into him.  
  
His groggy mind started to wish for the sweet sensation of relaxation, and the feeling of belonging that must come from having a creator who would help you because he wanted to, would let you sit around long enough to get on his feet before starting his duties.  
  
This lament was chased by another E-Tank, and another, and another, until he was to the point he could barely stand. It was too much energy. Not a steady stream that his body could process, but pushing his levels beyond what they should be, and trusting his body to balance it out in sleep. Quite frankly, it hurt.  
  
He felt like he wanted to vomit, if he could. Do something to get all the excess energy out   
of his system.  
  
With a muttered curse that sounded a bit like a whimper, he stumbled off to find some dark corner he could curl up in and hide from this hell for a few hours.  
  
- - -  
  
And when he slept, he dreamed.  
  
Horrifying dreams, nightmares, actually. Of his biggest mistake, when he let rage consume him.  
  
He wanted power. Too much power. He had taken the devil's offer, and nearly had himself killed.  
  
He dreamed of screaming in a small room, tearing at his face, being eaten from the inside, what part of him that was truly alive being killed.  
  
He dreamed of a large figure, an angel, coming to save him, who least deserved to be saved, appearing and bending down. A large hand resting on his shoulder, where, moments ago, metal wings had sprouted from using the Treble Boost. Treble sat in a corner, gazing at its master in fear.  
  
"I'm sorry," the dream figure said. "I can do nothing to remove the taint from someone who has chosen evil."  
  
Bass's red eyes gazed upwards, fearfully, at the face of his would be savior. "Choose," he croaked, wanting to laugh. When had he had any choice? He had the goal, and the means to do it, and if he didn't. "Help," he murmured.  
  
An even larger hand rested on his face, tearing away the awkward helmet to put a finger on his forehead. "You . . . have no soul."  
  
No soul.  
  
No soul.  
  
Pain wracked his dream figure, as the evil was torn from him, leaving behind a sensation he thought he would never feel again. A sense of love, caring, something out there wanting the best for him, not seeing him as tool.  
  
And when the pain died, his eyes truly opened.  
  
- - -  
  
Blues was having a really crappy night. Rock was still unconscious, and Light had to gone to sleep. Roll was in standby mode, recharging her energy.  
  
And Blues was alone, standing there and staring up into the sky. Stars had held a new meaning for him sense the Star Droid episode, where Rock had traveled across the solar system to stop an invading army.  
  
It wasn't like he did it alone. Blues had held off Terra on Earth, giving his brother time to collect the powers necessary for destroying the nearly invincible beings.  
  
"Their armor," he thought, looking at his shield, which lay in his lap. "Impervious to all normal energies. Only their own can damage it. Their own, and physical strength." Hence the tentatively titled "Mega Arm", which Light had designed so that Rock could combat the invaders.  
  
"Is it some type of Tritanium? Or, is it something else. And who designed them? Built them? It couldn't have been Wily." He looked at the stars, and realized they didn't have the answers.  
  
With a smirk, staring at one star that was new, glowing blue. "Maybe Duo knows. Have to ask him, next time he's in the area." He leaned back, resting his eyes, but not sleeping.  
  
"I wonder what he's up to."  



	3. Recovering, Upgrading, and Revelations.

Author's Notes:  
  
Finally getting into the Duo part of the story. I've never read anything with him in it, so I have no choice but to portray him as I've envisioned him.  
  
* * *  
  
Chapter 3:  
  
Recovering, Upgrading, and Revelations.  
  
  
* * *  
  
Rock didn't exactly wake up to a world of pain, nor did he wake up to a world of great comfort.  
  
He woke up after sleeping for nearly a day. And that it enough to make someone wish they hadn't, as a person's body is so used to rest, it doesn't want to move. But, Rock had to figure out what was happening. His last conscious thought was of fighting Bass, and the other bioroid's buster exploding.  
  
"I'm alive," he said, eyes still closed. His lungs weren't repaired completely, so he spoke with a raspy voice.  
  
"No thanks to Bass."  
  
He opened his eyes to stare up at his sister, who was standing over him with a concerned look on her face.  
  
"What happened?" he asked her, and started to move, but Roll gently pushed him back down.  
  
"You nearly got killed. Blues brought you back from the fight, and you're still under repairs. You've been resting for a day."  
  
"Oh. Has the storm cleared?"  
  
"What?" Roll cocked her head, confused, and then it hit her. "Oh, the thunder storm. Yeah, I guess. Why are you worried about that?"  
  
"It . . . It didn't feel normal." He couldn't express why he thought that, but it had been an odd storm. It had been an odd night.  
  
Roll shrugged, not understanding. "I'll go and get Doctor Light now."  
  
Rock nodded, or tried to, but his body was too sore to let him do anything more than wag his head.  
  
He slid his eyes closed, relaxing. He fell asleep before Light came back.  
  
* * *  
  
Bass sat, cross-legged, in front of a small computer terminal, looking from the screen to the device he held in his hand. Wily had designed the plans, but it was Bass's job to actually turn it into a reality.  
  
"Besides," the old man had said, "it's an upgrade for your dog, you should do it."  
  
Bass picked up a small screwdriver, and tightened one of the screws that the connector went into. Double checking how he had the chip boards set up, and the medium sized red power crystal that would generate the energy for the upgrade to be used.  
  
"Everything seems okay . . ." He didn't know why the thing would react, but he knew how it did. Wily had said that the power crystals contained unlimited energy, and were used in both his and Mega Man's Busters, and anything else that needed a massive amount of energy. In fact, Bass had discovered through this conversation that he had a power crystal inside him, which created similar energies to what the one in his buster created. Some relation between the two, and his bioroid body, kept his own energy from damaging him. The power crystal also served as a way for his body to always get energy. The one inside him was small, and not potent, but it would probably keep him alive when his energy ran out.  
  
"I wonder if Rock has something similar in him," he mused. Of course, if he had, then could Bass steal it and put it in himself, causing Rock's Buster to not damage him?  
  
Power crystals were rare. Power crystals that emitted the similar energies were even rarer. The one he had just installed into the upgrade was taken out of another upgrade that had been damaged by Rock.  
  
Bass ran a hand to his chest, then his forehead. Those were power crystals, too, used to increase the properties of his armor. Basically, it gave him better defense than he would have without them.  
  
He patted the floor next to him. His robotic dog, Treble, stalked over to him, kneeling. Bass reached up, and reached to the dog's upper back, sliding a panel open. The dog didn't seem to react, but it seemed vaguely annoyed.  
  
Bass slid the upgrade in, and made sure everything was connected. He took a handful of screws and the tiny screwdriver, securing the board into the dog's inside, so that it was steady.  
  
Most of Trebles middle body was made up of things like the upgrades; little boxes with power crystals inside, and cables running into other boxes. All of this rested between normal robotic parts.  
  
Once he was sure everything was in place, he closed the dog up, and stood.  
  
"So, boy. Feel like testing out the new hardware?"  
  
* * *  
  
"Rock. Wake up, Rock."  
  
Rock wanted to moan as a hand gently shook his shoulder, and his eyes flicked open. He stared up at the benevolent face of his creator, and blinked.  
  
"Good, you're awake. You're healing fine, and I'm getting ready to reapply the skin. I just wanted to make sure you felt okay before I covered it up, incase there was something I forgot."  
  
Rock nodded slightly. "I'm fine, just sore. Has everything been quiet?"  
  
Light frowned. "Reasonably so. Neither Bass or Wily has been up to anything that we can tell, but I have a feeling that something is going to happen."  
  
Rock nodded numbly. There wasn't anything he could do.  
  
"Well, anyway. Go ahead and relax, I'll be done shortly."  
  
As Light began to reapply the skin to Rock's damage body, Rock wondered if the doctor was keeping something from him. That frown hadn't been a good sign.  
  
* * *  
  
Somewhere in space, a battle was going on. More like a war, where, if the larger of the combatants lost, the other would be able to dominate the universe.  
  
And the larger had no intention of loosing.  
  
Hovering above a planet that was completely covered with sand, Duo glared at his opponent. Both were covered with auras of energy. Duo's was blue, his opponents, a smaller, green robot with a visor, was coated in a dark, oily purple aura.  
  
"You're the strongest one yet," Duo commented. For the past several systems he had traveled through, robots with the evil energy in them were unusually numerous. And, also, they got steadily stronger, as if someone had was creating these robots, each stronger than the last.  
  
The other robot smirked. It had a human face below the visor, and looked similar to Mega Man. "Quint."  
  
"What?" Duo stared at the green figure.  
  
"My name." Quint's aura flared, and he dashed ahead, evil energy blazing. The two auras collided, causing a massive explosion that could be seen from many planets off.  
  
"Ha!" Duo slashed with his right hand as their auras grappled. The figure was knocked back, and Duo quickly raised his normal sized hand, palm forward, and let loose a blast that sent Quint spinning.  
  
Duo lifted his left hand, the one that had once been artificially put on by Doctor Light. His body had changed it to better fit his over all body, but it was still larger. And useful.  
  
Duo flew ahead, swinging the massive fist into the still reeling Quint. The demonic robot flew backwards, toward the planet.  
  
Duo almost thought Quint was beaten, and he would need to land to recover the energy. As he began to drift closer to the planet, Quint's aura blazed up, and the robot flew forward, slamming into Duo, despite their conflicting auras.  
  
Duo clinched his left fist, three gems between the finger joints glowing. His aura surged up, nearly dispelling Quint's aura.  
  
A look of confusion spread across Quint's visored face, and Duo kicked the smaller robot away, before letting out a cry as his body dissolved into the blue energy. Duo dashed forward, cutting through the startled Quint, severing him neatly in two. The green robot screamed, a curious thing, as normal robots didn't feel pain.  
  
Was that a bioroid? Duo asked himself with a sigh. Pity, then.  
  
Quint's cries died out after a moment, and the ruined body began to float closer to the planet. Duo took a moment to rest, and let his energy restore any damage to his body.  
  
Duo mentally cursed himself as Quint's body began to move faster and faster towards the planet, caught in the gravity. Duo drifted after it, following it through reentry. The massive heat did nothing to Duo's body, but it turned Quint's into a melted mess.  
  
They both landed on the planet at about the same time, Quint's body creating a creator, while Duo used his energy to slow himself down. Once the dust had cleared, he drifted down to sort through the wreckage.  
  
He found Quint's upper torso, and bent over it, using his smaller hand to gently rip the "gut" part open, searching for the container of the evil energy. To his surprise, Quint's hands grabbed his wrist.  
  
"N-no . . . Te . . . Tear a." The green robot's face was melted, artificial skin hanging in gobs where it hadn't been destroyed. The visor was shattered, revealing incomplete eyes. More of two clusters of glowing optical censors than eyes. Quint had, apparently, not been completed before sent on this mission.  
  
"M-mine. Shay awa. Tear a." The arms, a melted mass with five small prongs sticking out of, began to push his hand back. The cable muscles were twitching in irregular patterns.  
  
Duo raised his other hand to crush Quint's head, ending it, but he thought better of it. "Who sent you?"  
  
"S-sent . . . ? Gah, code aftect Gernoxel.." One of the eyes sparked, and one of   
the arms let go and began squirming from side to side. Apparently, Quint's internal systems had been damage.  
  
"Who is your creator."  
  
"W . . . why . . Why lee." Another nonsensical answer.  
  
"Who sent you out here?"  
  
"Tear a. Sun Skar. Skar drods."  
  
Would Quint make sense.  
  
"Tear a sent . . . Me." Duo looked at the working optical sensor, which was focused on him. "Tear a!"  
  
Tear a . . . Terra. Sun Skar. That would mean, maybe, Sun Star? And the Star Droids?  
  
They were still around? Hadn't the Doomsday Weapon been sealed away, with his nine servants?  
  
"Be at rest." Duo swung his fist, crushing Quint's head quickly. The delirious robot didn't feel any pain, and he gave up what little soul he had.  
  
Duo returned to searching for the energy, found it, and destroyed it. He rose up to his full height, and did a brief scan of the sky. The way the stars were . . . That was Earth, where the Star Droid's probably were.  
  
Jumping into the air, aura blazing, he took off. This needed to be investigated.  
  
* * *  
  
Coming up, if the author can keep his mental momentum:  
  
She stared at what she saw. The one in red was Proto Man, or at least, that's what the news called him. But that other one, the one in black, the one glowing so oddly, was unknown to her.  
  
"Leave the human alone, Bass," Proto Man snarled, letting loose a blast at the black, winged robot, which dodged.  
  
"Oooh, hit a nerve, have I? Both you and your brother have that sickening love of humans, then? Pity, I thought better of you." The robot, Bass, let loose a blast of energy that spiraled around, and got around Proto Man's shield, sending the red raider to the ground.  
  
Bass jumped, wings stretching, and he flew backwards. Toward her, she realized.  
  
She turned around, starting to run, but strong, cold hands grabbed her by the throat, pulling her around. Once she was reoriented, she saw Proto Man standing , aiming the end of his weapon at her. Or, rather, what was behind her.  
  
Bass tightened his grip on her neck. "Go ahead, shoot me. Even if you hit me, I'll crush her neck."  
  
Her eyes widened. Bass was using her as a shield. From somewhere behind her, she heard a whining sound.  
  
Suddenly, her world shook. She was thrown forward, and Bass on top of her. The latter got up, spinning around.  
  
"There you are . . . So happy you could join us."  
  
She got up, staring at what had knocked Bass down as she backpedaled.  
  
Mega Man stood there, Buster extended, looking pretty ragged in the face, but otherwise fine.  
  



	4. Casualties of War

Author's Notes: This is a short chapter, and I'm trying get back into the swing of things (constant writing). So, I figured I'd upload now so that I A) have someplace to start with the next fic and B) feel like I've done something. Oh well, hope you enjoy this installment.  
  
On another note, those of you who watch Dragon Ball Z (They use it every episode) or Slayers (Xelloss is the only one, and he makes it look better than Goku ever could), or even that weird Sonic anime should get what I mean during the fight with Bass and Rock.  
  
Chapter Four:  
Casualties of War.  
  
The sun shone down on the grassy hill that gently sloped downwards. Beyond the end of the hill was a large expanse of even ground, dotted with trees, before the ground started to slope upward again.  
  
And in this place, a natural haven of nature, rested the home of the worlds most respected robotics engineer.  
  
"Of course," Bass mused, "It'd be so much more fun if the place was reduced to a smoldering hole."  
  
He was perched on a branch of a tall tree, twenty feet in above the ground, looking like some ancient gargoyle. The black wings that came with the fusion between him and Treble enhanced the effects, as did the row of spikes across his helmet and down the mid part of his back.  
  
He grinned sadistically as he looked at the lab, vaguely making out the small red form sitting on the roof. He licked one long incisor tooth while musing over the problem posed by Blues.  
  
He was the one being on the planet that Bass truly feared. He had been in King's throne room when Blues was wounded, and had used the Big Bang Strike.  
  
A shudder went down his spine, a completely unnoticed reaction, and one caused by being a bioroid. The raw power had been horrible. The effect . . . Blues had blown away a trillium shield. Something that shouldn't be possible.  
  
It didn't take much imagination for Bass to realize what would happen if he was the target of the blast.  
  
"So I won't let him hit me."  
  
His attention was suddenly grabbed by something moving towards the house.  
  
***  
  
  
She was probably acting the fool coming here, with a basket of flowers, no less. But if felt like something she had to do.  
  
The girl, fairly pretty with her long, blonde hair and blue eyes, walked towards the imposing lab. Her little brother had been at the mall at the time of the fight, and Mega Man had saved him. She felt like she should do something out of gratitude.  
  
Every step made her feel like a fool. What use would a robot have for flowers? She cursed herself for this entire idea. She was fifteen, and shouldn't be doing such foolish things.  
  
"Melody Melody Melody," she scolded herself. "You're acting like a child."  
  
She continued to mentally brow beat herself every step of the way, but that didn't seem to change her course at all.  
  
Oh well. Maybe he liked flowers?  
  
***  
  
"Too good."  
  
Those were the only words Bass could think of to describe this situation. It was too good. Too perfect.  
  
Too easy.  
  
He was literally handed a hostage. The fates must be smiling on him today. Either that, or this was going to turn around and smack him in the face.  
  
Of course, he was never known for caution.  
  
He dropped out of the tree he had been perched in, landing silently on the ground, and knelt down. The grass was tall enough that he was mostly concealed, and began to creep toward the slow moving girl, using her constant chatter as a beacon.  
  
"Gah. What am I doing here? I'm a fool . . ." The girl stopped, sighing. "But, it's a nice thing to do. I mean, on the news and all, he doesn't get a lot of recognition . . ."  
  
Just keep talking, Bass thought. This girl was a nuisance even if she wasn't useful as a hostage. He'd probably kill her out of spite, he thought with a smirk.  
  
She was only ten feet away, a distance Bass could cover in under a second.  
  
***  
  
"I wonder what she's up to," Blues spoke out loud as he watched the human girl walk towards the lab, from his vantage point on the large wall that surrounded the lab proper. The girl was wearing a white jump suit, and her hair and eyes reminded him of Roll. She was a little bit older looking than Roll, but similar enough that Blues realized that his father had probably worked hard to build his sister to look just like a preteen girl.  
  
And the girl was carrying flowers, of all things.  
  
"New one on me," the red raider said with a smirk. He was in as close to street clothes as he got, meaning a pair of jeans and a red tank top, black boots covering his feet, and his eyes covered in a pair of sunglasses.  
  
He looked at the sky, seeing a bird fly over head, and smiled. Probably a fan girl or something, for Rock. He laughed at the thought. Then, suddenly, his humorous inner monologue was cut short.  
  
By a scream.  
  
***  
  
She screamed the instant something cold and hard wrapped around her throat, pulling her back and off the ground. She was a short girl, and whatever was holding her was holding her about a foot off the ground.  
  
Her scream met a quick end when whatever had her by the neck pushed down, cutting off her air. She kicked, trying to get loose from the thing's grip. Her thrashing got her no where, and she stopped the instant she hit something.  
  
Something hard and metal. She gasped, or tried to, but the effort only made her lack of air worse. Her eyes started to close; she realized she was being strangled to death.  
  
And suddenly, her eyes flicked open as something bright and hot flew past her.  
  
***  
  
"Get Rock up," had been Blues's order to Roll, when she saw him jump the wall and use his armor recall. So, following her brother's instructions, she dashed into the lab, where Rock was sitting on the table he had been lying on a few hours before, stretching and rubbing the places where new skin was. The new artificial skin was a few tones lighter than the rest, as it hadn't been exposed to sunlight, and so created an odd scar effect.  
  
Rock looked up at his sister when she came into the room, and frowned at her words. "Blues left the lab suddenly, I thought I heard someone scream, and he told me to get you . . . "  
  
Even now, Rock had to admit the programming on the plain robot was amazing. She sounded just like a girl who had been told to do something and had run to do it, spitting out the message as quickly as possible.  
  
Of course, if something was going on, he should be up and not remarking on the programming of his sister. Following his own advice, he stood, but nearly fell.  
  
"Great," he muttered as he found his center of balance. "I'm still weak."  
  
He sighed, and took a few unsteady steps, before making a mad dash out of the room. Hopefully, he wouldn't fall.  
  
***  
  
When she hit the ground, hard, she started to breath again, sucking in great gulps of life giving oxygen. After she was sure she wasn't going to pass out, she opened her eyes.  
  
She stared at what she saw. The one in red was Proto Man, or at least, that's what the news called him. But that other one, the one in black, the one glowing so oddly, was unknown to her.  
  
"Leave the human alone, Bass," Proto Man snarled, letting loose a blast at the black, winged robot, which dodged.  
  
"Oooh, hit a nerve, have I? Both you and your brother have that sickening love of humans, then? Pity, I thought better of you." The robot, Bass, let loose a blast of energy that spiraled around, and got around Proto Man's shield, sending the red raider to the ground.  
  
Bass jumped, wings stretching, and he flew backwards. Toward her, she realized.  
  
She turned around, starting to run, but strong, cold hands grabbed her by the throat, pulling her around. Once she was reoriented, she saw Proto Man standing , aiming the end of his weapon at her. Or, rather, what was behind her.  
  
Bass tightened his grip on her neck. "Go ahead, shoot me. Even if you hit me, I'll crush her neck."  
  
Her eyes widened. Bass was using her as a shield. Well, at least he wasn't choking her as much this time. From somewhere behind her, she heard a whining sound.  
  
Suddenly, her world shook. She was thrown forward, and Bass on top of her. The latter got up, spinning around.  
  
"There you are . . . So happy you could join us."  
  
She got up, staring at what had knocked Bass down as she backpedaled.  
  
Mega Man stood there, Buster extended, looking pretty ragged in the face, but otherwise fine.  
  
For some reason, the realization that her flowers had been stepped on by the demon looking robot made her slightly sad.  
  
***  
  
"Now, we can get this started!" Bass yelled as a purple aura covered him, and a wave of energy cascaded from outstretched hands.  
  
Rock yelled, bracing himself, and charging his buster. He could take Bass, even like this. If he was at peak condition . . .   
  
But Blues had more concerns than his brother. While Rock could take whatever Bass could dish out, the girl would be vapor in a second if that wave hit her. He started to dash, an aura of energy covering him.  
  
To his eyes, hidden behind a visor, the wave of energy was painfully slow. He reached the girl in a split second, aura dying down as he got his footing. The wave hit his extended shield, and was repelled.  
  
"Good, he's still not strong enough too. . . " His murmur was cut off by his brother landing behind him.  
  
"He doesn't have the Evil Energy with him, does he?" the blue bomber asked his older brother, who shook his head.  
  
"Good. I can take it from here, I think. Get this girl to safety, you can move faster than I can." That was an understatement. "I'll deal with Bass here. See if there's a Rush Adapter that's still working around the lab, and if so, send Rush out here, okay?" Blues nodded, and waited for the wave of energy to die down.  
  
The instant he dropped his shield, he dashed, grabbing the girl, and all but flying towards the base.  
  
"These energy powers are good for something," he said with a smirk.  
  
***  
  
Rock got his footing in the wrecked ground. Bass's energy blast had burned the grass away, leaving dry earth and ashes for a good ten meters.  
  
"Cheater," he smirked, charging his buster.  
  
"You mean Treble?" he said with a smirk, raising his buster and letting loose a large blast of purple energy.  
  
"Ha!" A blast of pure white energy cascaded out of Rock's buster, canceling out Bass's shot. "Yes, I mean Treble."  
  
"Too bad for you." He let loose a beam, instead of a blast, and scored a hit on Rock's shoulder.  
  
"Gah!" It hurt like . . . Rock shook his head. It would heal, and it hadn't hit anything too major. He rotated the shoulder, making sure the joint still worked. "Yeah. I'll remember that when Blues gets back."  
  
Bass's smirk wavered. "I'll just have to kill you before then!" And he got ready to dash towards Rock.  
  
Rock blinked as he was thrown to the ground, as if something had run into him. His inner body was damaged, but healing was already under way. From his vantage point of flat on his back, he scanned the sky for Bass. "What was that. . . ?"  
  
Bass appeared, showing up gradually to his sight, as if he was appearing out of some other plane of existence, flying in the air.  
  
***  
  
Roll was standing in the garden outside the main building of the lab, looking at the direction Blues had dashed off two, when she heard two sounds.  
  
A girl, screaming like she was on a roller coaster, and a whirling of energy.  
  
Another sound caught up with her, of something very un-areodynamic jumping into the air, and she saw Blues, carrying a girl in his arms, jump over the wall and land, covered in a blue aura.  
  
When her older brother landed and dropped the screaming girl on the ground, she had only a few seconds to make out his quick command of "Quick,takecareofthisgirlRockisprobablygettingschooledbyBass,seeifthere'saRushPowerAdaptorlayingaroundandsendittoRock!" before her brother turned, and, still covered in the aura, jumped the wall.  
  
Roll bent down, studying the girl who appeared to be scared out of her mind. She smiled.  
  
"Don't worry, he's always like that." Her nice phrase didn't seem to help the girl any, so she went to find Doctor Light and any Rush Adaptors.  
  
***  
  
Bass hadn't mean to clothesline Rock, but hey. Wily's new upgrade made him faster when he used his dash, and it seemed to work. He would just need to make sure he didn't deplete his energy doing it, and that he could control the intense speeds.  
  
"I've got you now, Rock!"  
  
***  
  
Bass's taunt fell on deaf ears as Rock got onto his feet. Keen eyes studies Bass. . . One instant, he was there, floating in the air. He acted like he was getting ready to dash, like he would on the ground. Then, he seemed to fade from view with a sound of air filling the space he was once in, and the next, Rock was on his back and Bass was reappearing in the air.  
  
"Okay, got it! Nice trick. . ." He hopped to his feet, a plan forming in his mind, and taking a battle stance. Quick Man had done the exact same thing. He wasn't disappearing and reappearing, he was just moving too fast for his eyes to see.  
  
However, speed was a disadvantage too. He pulled back one hand. Bass would attack from the front, or at least, Rock hoped he would.  
  
Bass got ready to dash, and Rock swung his fist with all his strength. Before he got halfway done with the swing, Bass vanished, and Rock felt his fist connect with something hard as Bass seemed to phase into existence right on front of him.  
  
"Thank you, bastard son of Quick Man and Shade Man," he said with a smirk as he grabbed Bass by the throat. "Now, no matter how fast you move, you're staying right here. . . " Actually, that was a probable lie. If Bass could get a large enough push, he could escape. But it was a mental game.  
  
***  
  
Blues was almost to his brother, who had apparently taken Bass to school instead of vice-versa, when the clouds began to storm up. In the brief few seconds before he reached Rock, the clouds were big, black, and thundering.  
  
"What in the name of Duo . . .?" Rock and Bass both looked up, shocked, and when Blues reached them, a bolt of thunder hit the ground, jarring them and sending them flying.  
  
"Just great!" He should have had his shield out, he thought, before he was sent rolling head over heels on the ground.  
  
  
---  
  
Hey guys, Rock here! The author is too lazy to do previews, so he's letting us take turns doing it. He said something about how it would make it seem more anime like before he went back to searching his hard drive for music . . . Sigh.  
Well, anyway, in the next chapter, (whenever the author updates it Bass and I stop fighting the instant we realize that there's a bigger fish to fry - and I do mean fry! And, also, we run into the guy who's been making the freaky storms. Bass, being the arrogant idiot that he is, decides to get into an air battle with no other than Jupiter, the StarDroid of the Sky!  
Blues and I would help out, since we've fought the StarDroids before, but we've got our hands full with the double threat of Enker and Punk! Wow, if Ballade was here, all of the worthwhile Mega Man Destroyers would be assembled . . .  
Hey, wait a minute. Bass doesn't know that the StarDroids are unaffected by energy attacks, and he doesn't have enough physical strength to hurt one! Oh, man, I hope he realizes it and doesn't just keep blasting him.  
Times like this, I really wish Duo was around.  
So, wait patiently (or e-mail demands for updates. That really works as a motivator, I'm serious) for the next Chapter, "Problems from Space"! 


End file.
